Data is stored on disk drives utilizing a variety of designs. In one design, a head (e.g., a transducer) is mounted on or otherwise integrated with a slider that may fly or ride on an air bearing or a thin layer of air that is disposed adjacent to a rapidly rotating computer readable disk media (hereafter a “data storage disk”) as the data is transferred between the head and the corresponding data storage disk. The slider is mounted on a suspension or a load beam, that in turn is mounted on a rigid actuator arm or an actuator arm tip of what may be characterized as a head positioner assembly that is movably interconnected with a disk drive base plate and/or cover. The head positioner assembly would include multiple actuator arms/actuator arm tips for mounting multiple suspensions and heads in order to access both sides of a disk or when multiple disks are utilized in a disk drive. In any case, the head positioner assembly moves each of its heads across the corresponding data storage disk in a desired manner and to a desired location on the data storage disk to read and/or write data.
When the disk drive is not in operation, the head positioner assembly may be moved such that its heads are in a “parked position”. This will reduce the potential for damage to the data storage disks and/or heads in the event that the disk drive is subject to a non-operational shock event or the like. In a first type of disk drive, known in the art as a “dynamic load/unload” disk drive, the head positioner assembly is typically moved to position its head(s) in a “parked position” using what is commonly referred to as a load/unload ramp. Here, each of the heads are maintained in spaced relation to their corresponding data storage disk by the load/unload ramp. In a second type of disk drive, known in the art as a “contact start/stop” disk drive, the head positioner assembly moves the head(s) to a “parked position” that is located directly on typically a non-data zone of the corresponding data storage disk, typically near the center of the corresponding data storage disk. In either case, when the disk drive is not operating and if/when the disk drive is exposed to a shock event or the like, it is desirable in most cases to at least attempt to retain the head positioner assembly in the “parked position” to reduce the potential for undesired contact or relative movement between each of the heads of the disk drive and the data storage zone of the corresponding data storage disk.
Various types of latches have been proposed to attempt to retain the head positioner assembly in the parked position when the disk drive is exposed to a shock event or the like in a non-operational mode. There are basically two types of latches for mobile disk drives—inertial latches and electrical/solenoid-type latches. Inertial disk drive latches have two significant disadvantages. One is that they may be noisy. Inertial disk drive latches may “rattle,” and the consumer may perceive this noise to be a defect of some type. Another is that inertial disk drive latches are typically tuned to meet a certain shock specification. However, there are other shock conditions that may be encountered, such as shock events having different pulse durations or compound shock events, that may cause the inertial disk drive latch to fail to perform as desired/required.
Solenoid disk drive latches may be more reliable than inertial disk drive latches, but are commonly more expensive. For instance, the coil of known solenoid disk drive latches is disposed within the interior of the disk drive. In order to electrically interconnect the coil to the printed circuit board assembly, holes are drilled in the base plate of the drive. Grommets may then be positioned within these holes, and wires that are connected to the coil may then be routed through the grommets for attachment to the printed circuit board assembly. Leads associated with these wires are typically soldered to a connector or flex circuit, which is then connected to the printed circuit board assembly. The holes in the base plate through which the wires extend must also typically be potted. As such, this approach is both expensive and labor intensive. There are other associated problems. One is that the coil of the solenoid disk drive latch is exposed to the inside of the disk drive, creating an outgassing concern. Another is that it may be very difficult, time consuming, and/or otherwise simply not feasible to just replace the solenoid disk drive latch, increasing the scrap cost of bad parts.